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Weekly Devotional

November 17, 2008
 

Mark 1:1-8  The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  ² As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way;  ³ the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'"  ⁴ John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  ⁵ And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.  ⁶ Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  ⁷ He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals.  ⁸ I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

As we approach the Advent season, we start to prepare for the coming of Christ.  Our lessons before the end of this church year (which concludes next Sunday) and the first few in Advent speak of the parousia (Greek for “appearance and subsequent presence with" (in the ancient world referring to official visits by royalty).  While doing some research on this online, I found the following information on Wikipedia:  “The Second Coming is also referred to as the Second Advent, from the Latin term "adventus", for "coming".”  While we normally think of Advent as the time that we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, I hope that we can now begin to shed a new light on its meaning.  Not only are we preparing to celebrate Christmas, but we are once again preparing for the return of our Lord and Savior.  In two short weeks we will begin the new church year with the first Sunday in Advent.  How will you prepare your heart and soul for this upcoming season?

In our prayers this week: 

Alma, Ann, Doris and her mom.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Judson